Law School Admissions: The Good and the Bad

A couple of articles about law and law school caught my eye in the last few days. They present the upside and downside of pursuing a legal education. First let’s look at the good stuff.

The Harvard Law Bulletin, HLS’ alumni magazine, has a series of articles reviewing Harvard Law’s curriculum reforms. The articles discuss attempts to make it easy to enroll in joint degrees such as a unified calendar for Harvard University. They also go into depth on the actual changes to the way law is studied at Harvard including offering new, optional programs of study for second- and third-year students and revamping the first-year curriculum for the first time since the late-19th century.

Considering Harvard’s stature and the wide-ranging nature of the reforms, I think reading these articles would be worthwhile for many law school applicants. They will make you think more deeply about the kind of legal education you want. What will best prepare you for the career you want to have?

Then the bad, or not so good. The New York Times article, "The Falling Down Professions," discusses the loss of prestige that law and medicine have suffered in the last twenty years. As I have written many times before, I think it is imperative that you go into law for the right reasons, mostly because you think you will enjoy the work. If you are looking for the glitz, glamour, and super-sized salaries of private equity, perhaps a JD isn’t for you.